French Fries and Frog Legs: Paris - Day 1

I'm channeling Sofia Petrillo right now.

Picture it: Thursday, July 21st.  A young American law student leaves her adopted English town with her two friends in tow.  Their destination?

PARIS!

We took the Eurostar, which is really a relatively stress free way to travel from England to Europe.  My ears always pop in the Chunnel, but I can handle popping ears much better than being groped at the airport or paying gobs of money for a normal sized suitcase.  I highly recommend the train to anyone traveling in Europe and wish we had a better train system in the US.

The French were surprisingly nice.  Seriously.  When we got to Paris late at night, we descended into the Metro, with only Sidney and me speaking a smattering of French.  We found the ticket kiosk with no trouble, but unfortunately, it was only taking Euro notes, not coins.  None of our cards were working and we were all so worried until this French man bought a book of ten tickets and sold us three individually for one Euro each!  So kind!

Anyway, we got to our hostel's Metro stop, Republique, and attempted to follow our hostel's less than clear directions.  These were the directions:

So, you'll need to reach the metro station 'République ' ( line 3,5,8,9,11 ). And follow the exit number 4 : 'Sortie rue du Faubourg du temple', the street which makes the corner with a shop named ' Habitat',( rue du Faubourg du Temple ) on the back of the statue. After one block walking on that street, you'll see a Mc Donald ( ! ) we are accross the street...

Seriously?  We went in the complete opposite direction of where we needed to be.  Wandering around  Paris, just three girls.  Not ideal.  We decided then and there that we would be cabbing it back home each night from dinner.  Luckily, we finally found the place, thanks to a kind (again!) French woman who asked a taxi driver where we needed to go.  We had a three bed room again, like we had in Dublin, with an ensuite bathroom.  So it was just us - yay!  The bathroom was not Mama-clean, but maybe dorm-room clean.  Not bad, but not barefoot either.  There might have been a minor mold issue.

The beds were ridiculous.  They were so squeaky.  Like, keep you awake at night with every wiggle squeaky.  At least it was just us three and we were all so tired, that we passed out.

The next morning, we woke up around 9.  We wanted to grab a bite to eat and then do the Eiffel Tower early to avoid the lines.  HA.  Anyway, my croque monsieur was delicious.  I am not a ham eater at home, but I always seem to eat it like it's my job in Europe.  Jamon y queso boccadillos in España, ham and cheese toasties in England, and croque monsieurs in France!  Yum yum!

After brunch, we moseyed on over to the Eiffel Tower.  We had to pause, though, to try out some of our favorite poses that we've learned from our Asian tourist friends.  I use the word friends loosely, because we've never actually talked to any of them, just admired their spectacular poses.

Barb leaps for joy!

Sidney hops in excitement.

The next several hours (seriously, like three or four) involved way too much standing around in line.  Luckily, I managed to snap a few photos in the meantime and even a breakdancer!

When we finally got our tickets and reached the middle level via the elevator, we decided to get out and take some photos.  Paris is just huge, as far as you can see - city.  My fear of heights didn't act up too badly, but I got a little dizzy when I looked up to take a photo of the top part of the tower.  

At some point, the sky started to look a little questionable, so we decided to get in line to go to the very top before it started to rain.

An hour and a half and a few rain showers later...we get to the front of the line only to discover they had sold us tickets for the middle tier only.  We had two options: 1) get out of line, go buy new tickets, and come back to the front or 2) get our souvenirs and get the heck out of Dodge.

We chose option 2 and decided to seek out some yummy snacks, namely: crepes!  I love crepes.  Really, I do.  I still have dreams about this mushroom crepe I had in a cafe in a square in Germany...

Where was I?  Oh, right.  Paris.

Our waiter thought we were funny and we thought the same of him.  He did take a photo of us (not so flattering of me, but c'est la vie) and even hopped in on one with Barbara!

Following our snack, we needed to do a little shopping to pick up some essentials we'd forgotten to pack.  On the way, we found Heaven.

Everyone says Laduree is beautiful and delicious and wonderful and you know what?  They're spot on!  I have never seen such a beautiful pastry shop.  It's the Tiffany's of macaroons.  I was so in love, even though I'd known about it for ages.  Take me back now, please!

Swiped from Barb's blog - I forgot to take a photo!

We found our essentials and decided to try to make it to Notre Dame before dinner.  It was around eight at night at this point but still very well lit.  Even though the church was closed, there were still tons of people around, making the perfect opportunity for Sid and I to show off another favorite Asian pose.

We walked around the back of the church and into the little garden behind it, with me snapping photos the whole way.  Such a shutterbug.  I'll spare you most of them, but let's just say that between the above photo and the below photo, I took around 40 shots.

After we said Au revoir! to Notre Dame, we went back to the hostel to wash Paris off our skin and change for dinner.  Sid's pal Gwyneth had suggested a couple of places, but unfortunately we could find none.  We finally ended up poking out heads into a cafe, and I asked in my meager French "Est-ce qu'il être encore possible...?"  I didn't even have to finish before the guy shook his head and said they weren't still serving food.  He did tell us to go to Cafe Louise, though, and oh my gosh!  What a recommendation!  The food, the service, everything was great!

I even tried escargot!  And guess what?  I really liked the flavor!  I could only eat one, though, because I couldn't get past the mental block of "There is a snail in my mouth right now."  Maybe if I hadn't had to yank it out of the shell myself?  I don't know.  It was tasty though, and I'd consider eating them again.  Sidney and Barbara liked them so much that they ordered another round!  After dinner, it was time for bed.  We were so exhausted, we didn't even mind the squeaky beds!

Coming up?  We take on the museums of Paris and Sacre Coeur!  Stay tuned, my friends!

London Calling - Day 3

July 17th - Last day to gallivant around London.  Up with the sun (not really, but kind of early) and off to Shakespeare's Globe.  Barbara was really excited about it; I was kind of eh.  It was cooler than I expected, though, and I'm glad to be able to say that I've been.

View of St. Paul's behind us

After The Globe, we headed to the Tate Modern for some art viewing and food chewing.  I've always said I'm not really a modern art person (with a few key exceptions - Matisse, Calder, Picasso) and even as beautiful a museum as the Tate Modern didn't change my mind.

My favorite!

Following lunch and art, we headed back across the Thames for Tower Visit, Take 2.  The weather was being super finicky - raining cats and dogs, then sunny, then back again.  For most of the line to see the Jewels, the weather behaved.  Right before we got in the doors, though, the bottom of the sky fell out.  We let a family with some tiny tater tots cut in front of us to get them out of the deluge, then we got in ourselves.  The line was slow moving, but I really enjoyed seeing the crowns and regalia.

See that sky?  Right before it poured!

We had planned to go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey and then to afternoon tea at the Wolseley, per a suggestion by a friend of Sidney's.  With the weather being as gross as it was, sitting in a nice, dry church sounded ideal!  We made it to the church just after the service had begun (whoops!) and got to sit in the Poets' Corner!  We were literally seated atop Samuel Johnson.  Pretty cool!

Post evensong, we made our way across town to the Wolseley, just across the street from the Ritz near Piccadilly.  The scones and sandwiches and desserts were all so yum!  The service was great and the atmosphere too - nice, but not stuffy, which I think is saying something when you're serving someone tea!

After that, we said farewell to London and returned to Oxford.  Next up?  Gay Paree!

London Calling - Day 2

Yeah, yeah, I'm behind.  You can't really expect me to spend all my time in Europe on the computer, though, can you?!  So where was I?  Oh yeah...

July 16th - First stop on our Saturday in London was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  In a torrential rainstorm.  Gross.  So not only was I soaked and freaking, I kept getting pushed around by annoying Russian tourists.  Oh well.  I passive-aggressively dripped my umbrella water on to them.  If you're going to block my view, you're going to get a wet neck.  I was too busy holding my umbrella to take photos, unfortunately.

Barbara was able to snap one, though.

In an attempt to dry off, we headed indoors to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Sidney had talked about how beautiful it was, but I was so unprepared.  I had a little moment where I was just overwhelmed.  It was that amazing.  Seriously, if you're in London, it's a must see.

Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures of the inside, so I can't show you how incredible it was, but trust me.  in-CRED-ible.

As some of you may know, I have a paralyzing fear of heights.  Except, it's more a paralyzing fear of falling.  High up in a sky scraper behind a wall of glass?  Fine.  On top of a mountain, a solid twenty feet from the edge?  No problem.  But you get me near something I think might break out from under me or a railing I could accidentally topple over?  I turn into a quivering bowl of fear jelly.

So why the hell did I agree to climb to the top of St. Paul's Dome?!  Because, darlings, I'm in Europe and Europe is a time to push yourself into knew experiences!  And guess what - I'm so glad I did!  The first tier, the Whispering Gallery, was the scariest part, because the only thing that separated me from a splattered end was a piddly little metal fence.  Oh, and I was walking around on wood beams that are God knows how old.  Definitely my least favorite part of the climb.

The second tier, though, the Stone Gallery, was amazing.  Such beautiful views of London.  Sid shares my fear of heights, so she took a nap in the pews (shh, don't tell!) while Barbara and I climbed.

562 steps - yay me!

At one point, my sunglasses did fall down a few stairs and I wanted to think, "That could be me."  But I didn't.  Instead, I kept mumbling, "You're not going to fall, you're not going to fall."  And I didn't!  Whoo!

After that, we climbed down, found Sid, and moseyed across the street for some lunch.  The weather, which to that point, had been drippy, was starting to clear up a little, so I got a pretty outside shot of the Cathedral before we decided to try to get to the Tower of London.  The last ticket sales are 30 minutes before close, but the fibbers wouldn't sell us tickets.  So we snapped a few pics of the outside and went ahead and bought our souvenirs in the gift shop, deciding to see the inside the next day.  We are so efficient.

Check out those nasty clouds!

Here, kitty kitty!

London bridge is falling down!*

For those of you in the know, you might recall that a little old movie called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II came out the Friday we were in London.  So OF COURSE we had to see it the next night, Saturday.  Sidney's BFF Gwyneth recommended we go to Tacqueria in Notting Hill for some yummy Mexican.  After the gloomy weather all day, that sounded fantastic!  And it was!

Unfortunately, we were in a hurry and had to plow through our meal before running like mad elephants to the theatre (see what I did there, with the British spelling?) to get to the show on time.  And by show, I mean 35 minutes of previews.  Ridiculous.  We could have stayed for dessert if we'd know how many previews British theatres show.  Dumb.

After HP, we decided to hit the hay so we could rise and shine the next morning, cram in a few more sights, and head back to lovely old Oxford that night.  But more about that another time! 

*Yes, I know that's really the Tower Bridge.  Just go with it.

London Calling - Day 1

You knew that post title was coming at some point, didn't you?

We got up bright and early on Friday to take a chartered bus to London.  It dropped us off at the Holborn tube station and we set off on a walking tour of "Legal London."  We visited the four Inns of Court, which are sort of like mandatory, co-ed sororities for barristers.

Lincoln's Inn

Inner Temple (and Temple Church)

[Apparently I didn't take any photos of Middle Temple and Gray's Inn.  My b.]

Then we ended up at the Royal Courts of Justice.

We are so in England.

And just like that, in about two hours, our tour was over and our weekend began!  As has become our standard, Babs, Sid, and I hit the ground running.  We knew we wanted to drop our heavy backpacks off at our hostel, which turned out to be in Bayswater.

It's that little blue blob near Nottinghill, on the left.

It might look really out of the way, but our hostel, Astor Quest on Queensborough, was really well located, just two blocks away from both the Bayswater and Queensway tube stations.  We checked in, dropped our bags, and took to the tube.  When we emerged at Westminster, this was the first thing we saw:

"Hey, guys?  Is that...BIG BEN!!!"

Probably one of my favorite moments of the weekend.  Sidney had asked earlier if we had had that moment of, "Oh, my gosh, I'm in England!" yet and I had said not really.  

This was that moment.

Hey, Parliament, what's up?

What a blustery day!

We were all a little worn out from getting up, sitting on a bus, and then walking around with our heavy backpacks, so we decided a doubledecker bus tour was in order.  It was so relaxing to be driven around and have stuff pointed out so I could snap a photo and move on.  The weather was gorgeous, as you can see from above but really windy!

Parliament

The London Eye

Can you tell how in love with ole Benny boy I was?

Westminster Abbey

Cool sculpture!

Putting on the Ritz!

After whirling about London, we got dropped off near the London Eye and decided to climb aboard to get a bird's eye view of the city.

It looks like a backdrop, doesn't it?!

The sun was going down and it was getting chilly, so we decided to head back to the hostel to change for dinner.  We ate at Bocca di Lupo in Piccadilly, and it was WONDERFUL.  Sidney has been getting fantastic restaurant recommendations from Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP newsletter and they've all been homeruns.  After that, we went out in Piccadilly, met up with one of our new pals, and ended up back home in the wee hours of the morning.

Top night, ladies and gents, top night!

Coming Up Next: I climb to the top of St. Paul's without falling to my death!  Stay tuned!